Leaping into the New Year – Literally
Recapping my first skydiving experience, including the full video, my favorite part, the scariest part, whether or not I’d do it again and the thing that surprised me the most.
I’ve wanted to skydive for YEARS and decided I wasn’t going to let another one go by without doing it, so I booked my tandem session and on Thursday, December 21, 2023, I jumped out of an airplane at 13,000 feet in the air with a guy named Jorge strapped to my back. As you could imagine, it was one of the craziest, most exhilarating experiences of my life, so I wanted to share it with all of you!
…nothing like plummeting head first out of an airplane to make you question your life choices, even if only for a split second.
My Favorite Part
My favorite part was definitely after the initial free fall (more on that below), but before we pulled the main parachute. Getting to just float in the air, taking in the views and truly being in the moment, was incredible. I have no idea how long that part actually lasted but it felt like time stood still. I remember thinking, “I’m doing this!” and feeling so happy and proud of myself for actually doing it. I mean, there was no turning back at that point, BUT I WAS DOING IT, YOU GUYS!
The Scariest Part
By far the absolute SCARIEST part for me was the first few seconds of the free fall!!! You can actually see the terror on my face in the video! I knew that initial part of the fall would be brief, so I immediately sucked in a breath and closed my eyes and after what felt like just a few seconds, but also an eternity, Jorge (my amazing instructor) had already pulled the preliminary chute – known as the “drogue parachute” or “pilot chute” – which slowed us down, leveled us out and made it so we could float for a bit. But whew, nothing like plummeting head first out of an airplane to make you question your life choices, even if only for a split second.
Would I Do It Again
Despite what I say at the end of the video during my “exit interview,” where I was clearly still high on adrenaline, I definitely don’t feel the need to ever do it again! Would I? Sure. Like for a friend’s 60th birthday (you know who you are!) or some other commemorative occasion with friends, but I don’t need to do it again for me. It was truly a once in a lifetime, bucket list item and I’m so glad I finally did it, but I’m good with one and done…for now at least.
“Oh fuck!”
What Surprised Me the Most
Two things, actually! The first was that I truly didn’t feel nervous at all! It wasn’t until we were literally falling out of the airplane and nosediving to the earth that my rational brain went, “Oh fuck!” (hence my immediate eye closing and breath holding during that part).
The second was how unbelievably WIPED I was after it was all over.
What goes up, must come down and holy crap the adrenaline crash was no joke! I planned for a lot, but the energetic plummet wasn’t something I’d anticipated, so by the time I got home from the 25-minute drive, I could not get into bed fast enough! I quickly conked out for a solid two hours and was pretty much immobile the rest of the day after my nap. It was like that feeling you have after completing your last college final, when you can finally sleep and rest after God knows how many all-nighter study sessions; your mind turns to mush and your body just melts into the bed. That was me.
I was so exhausted, in fact, that I had to cancel dinner plans because the thought of dragging myself out of bed to get ready and then go out was too much to even consider, let alone actually doing it. Thankfully my friend was understanding and a raincheck actually worked out better for her, too.
For context, the tandem instructors usually do anywhere from 5-7 flights A DAY!!! I mean, can you imagine?! I could barely function after one, so clearly “skydive instructor” is not on my list of possible job prospects while I’m on the hunt for a new full-time position.
Some Interesting Facts
I skydived in Davis, CA at Skydance Skydiving, which has been in business since 1987 and started the first Tandem Skydiving program in the Western United States. If you’re in the northern CA area, I HIGHLY recommend them!!! My instructor, Jorge, was amazing and so was everyone else on the crew.
SIDE NOTE: I’d heard about this place from a guy I was briefly talking to on Hinge – “go skydiving” listed on my profile in response to the prompt “this year I really want to…” serving as a good conversation starter. Our dating app romance was short lived (as so many are), when he promptly ghosted me after we started voice texting (on his insistence), which I found funny – like, was it my voice or something I said?! I’ll never know, but ultimately got the experience of a lifetime out of our brief interlude, so there’s that! So if you’re reading this, Mike Hinge 12/23 – my super stealth formula for listing guys from dating apps in my phone – thanks for the tip!
We jumped out at 13,000 feet, which is nearly 2.5 miles above the earth
We were free-falling for 60 seconds (before we pulled the main parachute) and were traveling at about 120 mph during that decent
During that time, my instructor deployed a small white parachute called a "drogue parachute,” which you can see in the video. Its purpose is to stabilize and slow down the descent of the main parachute system during the initial phase of deployment. In other words, that mini chute made it so we could suspend in the sky for a bit, take in the views and interact with the videographer.
The main parachute gets pulled at 6,000 feet and then we sort of just float down
Final Thoughts
In the end, skydiving was such an incredible way to close out the year and usher in a new one and I’m so glad I finally did it. Talk about a rush!
It also now serves as a much needed reminder that if I can jump out of a freaking plane, I can do just about anything, so I’m excited to see what opportunities present themselves this year…
Curious to know – what’s on your bucket list? Would you ever consider jumping out of an airplane? I know a place (wink, wink)!
xx
Sadye